[benklerk]

Messier 8 (Lagoon Nebula) and Messier 20 (Trifid Nebula)

The Lagoon Nebula is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula. The Lagoon Nebula is currently undergoing a period of active star formation and has already formed a sizable cluster of stars. NGC 6530, the extremely young open cluster formed from the material of M8. The Lagoon Nebula is estimated to be between 4,000-6,000 light-years from the Earth. Like many nebula's, it appears pink in time-exposure color photos but is gray to the eye peering through binoculars or a telescope, human vision having poor color sensitivity at low light levels.

The Trifid Nebula is also an H II region located in Sagittarius. The name Trifid refers to its three-lobed appearance. Messier 20 consists of several different objects: an emission nebula, a reflection nebula, a dark nebula and an open star cluster.

This is a 2 panel mosaic and one of my first attempts at doing one. I'll post up other combo's later on.

Skywatcher ED72
HEQ5 Pro Beltmod
ZWO with Filters
HA 28 x 10min
OIII 34 x 10min
Total 62 x 10min
Total time 10.3 hrs